''This article refers to volume 1 of the series'' The Amazing Bud Powell''. For the full catalog of Powell recordings for Blue Note, please see The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings.'' ''The Amazing Bud Powell'', also called ''The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1'', is an album by

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern ...

, first released on

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

in April 1952, as a 10" vinyl. It is part of a loosely connected series with the 1954 companion ''

The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 ''The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2'' is a studio album by Jazz piano, jazz pianist Bud Powell, released on Blue Note Records in 1954, featuring a session Powell recorded with George Duvivier on bass and Art Taylor on drums at the WOR (AM), WOR Stu ...

'' and the 1957 '' Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 3)'', all released on

. The album details two recording sessions. In the first, recorded on August 9, 1949, Powell performed in quintet with

Fats Navarro Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 6, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, including Cl ...

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

Tommy Potter Charles Thomas Potter (September 21, 1918 – March 1, 1988) was an American jazz double bass player, best known for having been a member of Charlie Parker's "classic quintet", with Miles Davis, between 1947 and 1950. Born in Philadelphia, Penn ...

and

Roy Haynes Roy Owen Haynes (born March 13, 1925) is an American jazz drummer. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 80 years, he has played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and is considered a pioneer of jazz ...

, and in trio with Potter and Haynes. In the second, on May 1, 1951, Powell performed in trio with

Curley Russell Dillon "Curley" Russell (19 March 1917 – 3 July 1986) was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings. He was born in New York, United States. He was nicknamed "Curley" for his curly hair. A member of the Tadd Damero ...

and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

, and solo. The album is critically prized among Powell's releases. Among the more discussed of the album's tracks is the pianist's composition "

Un Poco Loco "Un Poco Loco" is an Afro-Cuban jazz standard composed by American jazz pianist Bud Powell. It was first recorded for Blue Note Records by Powell, Curly Russell, and Max Roach on May 1, 1951. Musical characteristics "Un Poco Loco" is in thir ...

" ("A Little Crazy"), which has been singled out by critics and cultural historians for its musical and cultural significance. The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 1989 in chronological order with additional, alternate takes. This version is also available along with Powell's 1947

Roost Roost may refer to: Animal resting * Roosting, resting behavior of birds * Communal roosting, a behavior of some birds and other animals * Monarch butterfly roosts, communal resting sites in monarch butterfly migration * Bat roost, a list of pla ...

session on the first disc of '' The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings'', a 4 disc box set. The album was remastered again in 2001 by

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

and re-issued as part of Blue Note's The RVG Edition series, with further expansion and reorganization.

Critical reception

The album is rated highly within Powell's musical library, described by ''All About Jazz'' as "among the pianist's most important recordings" and by '' The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jazz'' (in conjunction with volume two) as "a great introduction to this awesome pianist". Jazz critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

characterized it in his book ''Jazz on Record'' as "full of essential music". ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' included the album in its suggested “core collection” of essential recordings. In ''Bebop: The Best Musicians and Recordings'', Yanow identifies among the highlights of the album "Bouncing with Bud", "52nd Street Theme" and "Dance of the Infidels," performed by the "very exciting quintet" of 1949, and also the 1951 trio's "three stunning versions of 'Un Poco Loco'". Barry Kernfeld in ''The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz'' notes with regards to "Un Poco Loco" that "the three takes

f the song F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

..enable us to hear the evolution of a masterpiece", a label with which a critic at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' concurred. While the song "Un Poco Loco" has been identified as musically outstanding, it has also been discussed as culturally significant. According to ''Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop'', although

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm.{{cite web, Cuba: Son and Afro-Cuban ...

had been introduced in the 1940s by such artists as

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

and

Machito Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. Ginell, Richard S. ''Biography''. Allmusic, 2011/ref> He wa ...

, "Un Poco Loco" is a significant marker in the establishment of this musical genre, as it revealed "the Afro-Cuban turn settling into bebop's acceptable field of rhetorical conventions". More than Afro-Cuban, the authors of that book detect what they describe as a "Pan-African" musical influence in the composition's repetition, harmony and cyclic solo that, while not as obviously Afro-international as Gillespie's "

A Night in Tunisia "A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie around 1940–42, while Gillespie was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by Raymond Leveen w ...

', "certainly signaled a 'blackness' that became part of the language of subsequent expressions of modern jazz." The book ''Jazz 101'' indicates that Powell's performances of this material in 1951 was "all the more astonishing" in its "level of creativity, and even authenticity" because little was known at the time of

African music Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...

or how

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

(aside from the Cuban influence) could be applied to jazz. According to Yanow, in ''Afro-Cuban Jazz: The Essential Listening Companion'', this composition was Powell's only involvement with Afro-Cuban Jazz.

Releases

The album was first released in April 1952 as a 10" LP in Blue Note's 5000 series (BLP 5003). This collected together eight tracks (four from each session) that had previously been released as 78 rpm singles in 1949 and 1951: "You Go To My Head c/w Ornithology" (BN 1566), "Bouncing With Bud c/w Wail" (BN 1567), "Over The Rainbow c/w A Night In Tunisia" (BN 1576), and "Un Poco Loco c/w It Could Happen To You" (BN 1577). In March 1956, the album was re-issued as a 12" LP (BLP 1503), with seven additional tracks (including alternate takes, then a rarity) from both sessions, while "You Go to My Head" from the first session, and "Over the Rainbow" and "It Could Happen To You" (master take) from the second were moved to ''

'', initiating the spread of the two sessions between the two volumes. This track listing was kept for the first digital remastering in 1985, when the album was re-issued on vinyl and cassette. In 1989, the album was digitally remastered and released on CD. This time the tracks were listed in session chronological order, which involved "A Night in Tunisia" (both takes), "It Could Happen to You" (alternate take) and "Parisian Thoroughfare" moving to ''The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2'' and "You Go to My Head", "Ornithology" (alternate take) and "Over the Rainbow" moving back. Three further alternate takes from the 1949 session were added, completing the session on this volume. The 1951 session still straddled the two volumes. In 2001,

remastered the album from scratch (he'd previously been credited with disc transfers on the 1989 remaster), and the album was re-issued as part of Blue Note's The RVG Edition series. This release finally united the two complete sessions on one disc, with all second session material on ''Vol. 2'' being transferred. The track listing was also altered so that alternate takes were grouped after the master takes of each session, avoiding the somewhat relentless take repetition of the 1989 release.

Track listing

''Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by

.''

1952 10" LP (BLP 5003)

# "

" – 4:42 # " Over the Rainbow" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg) – 2:55 # "

Ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

" (

Benny Harris "Little" Benny Harris (April 23, 1919 in New York City – May 11, 1975 in San Francisco) was an American bebop trumpeter and composer. A self-taught musician, in the mid-1930s Benny Harris was already playing with Thelonious Monk. In later y ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

) – 2:20 # "Wail" – 3:02 # "

" (

Frank Paparelli Frank Paparelli (* December 25, 1917 in Providence, Rhode Island; † May 24, 1973 in Los Angeles, California) was an American Jazz pianist, Composer and Author. He was a pianist in Dizzy Gillespie's band during the mid-1940s, and is notable as t ...

) – 4:12 # " It Could Happen to You" ( Johnny Burke,

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

) – 3:12 # "

You Go to My Head "You Go to My Head" is a 1938 popular song composed by J. Fred Coots with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. Numerous versions of the song have been recorded, and it has since become a pop and jazz standard. Melody and lyrics Alec Wilder terms Coots' me ...

" (

J. Fred Coots John Frederick Coots (May 2, 1897 – April 8, 1985) was an American songwriter. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for t ...

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breez ...

) – 3:11 # "Bouncing with Bud" (

Gil Fuller Walter Gilbert "Gil" Fuller (April 14, 1920, Los Angeles, California – May 26, 1994, San Diego, California) was an American jazz arranger. He is no relation to the jazz trumpeter and vocalist Walter Fuller (musician), Walter "Rosetta" Fuller. I ...

, Powell) – 3:01

1956 12" LP (BLP 1503)

# "Un Poco Loco" (alternate take #1) – 3:46 # "Un Poco Loco" (alternate take #2) – 4:28 # "Un Poco Loco" – 4:42 # "Dance of the Infidels" – 2:50 # "

52nd Street Theme This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. 0-9 52nd Street Theme A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" b ...

" (

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

) – 2:45 # "It Could Happen to You" (alternate take) (Burke, Van Heusen) – 3:12 # "A Night in Tunisia" (alternate take) (Gillespie, Paparelli) – 3:49 # "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Paparelli) – 4:12 # "Wail" – 3:02 # "Ornithology" (Harris, Parker) – 2:20 # "Bouncing with Bud" (Fuller, Powell) – 3:01 # "Parisian Thoroughfare" – 3:23

1989 CD

# "Bouncing with Bud" (alternate take #1) (Fuller, Powell) – 3:03 # "Bouncing with Bud" (alternate take #2) (Fuller, Powell) – 3:12 # "Bouncing with Bud" (Fuller, Powell) – 3:01 # "Wail" (alternate take) – 2:38 # "Wail" – 3:02 # "Dance of the Infidels" (alternate take) – 2:52 # "Dance of the Infidels" – 2:50 # "52nd Street Theme" (Monk) – 2:45 # "You Go to My Head" (Coots, H. Gillespie) – 3:11 # "Ornithology" (Harris, Parker) – 2:20 # "Ornithology" (alternate take) (Harris, Parker) – 3:07 # "Un Poco Loco" (alternate take #1) – 3:46 # "Un Poco Loco" (alternate take #2) – 4:28 # "Un Poco Loco" – 4:42 # "Over the Rainbow" (Arlen, Harburg) – 2:55

2001 CD The RVG Edition

# "Bouncing with Bud" (Fuller, Powell) – 3:04 # "Wail" – 3:06 # "Dance of the Infidels" – 2:54 # "52nd Street Theme" (Monk) – 2:50 # "You Go to My Head" (Coots, H. Gillespie) – 3:15 # "Ornithology" (Harris, Parker) – 2:23 # "Bouncing with Bud" (Alternate take #1)– 3:06 # "Bouncing with Bud" (Alternate take #2) – 3:16 # "Wail" (Alternate take) – 2:42 # "Dance of the Infidels" (Alternate take) – 2:51 # "Ornithology" (Alternate take) – 3:12 # "Un Poco Loco" – 4:46 # "Over the Rainbow" (Arlen, Harburg) – 2:59 # "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Paparelli) – 4:17 # "It Could Happen to You" (Burke, Van Heusen) – 3:17 # "Parisian Thoroughfare" – 3:26 # "Un Poco Loco" (Alternate take #1) – 3:49 # "Un Poco Loco" (Alternate take #2) – 4:32 # "A Night in Tunisia" (Alternate take) – 3:53 # "It Could Happen to You" (Alternate take) – 2:23

Personnel

Performance

''August 9, 1949 session: tracks 1-11 (referring to the 2001 CD release).'' *

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(tracks 1–4, 7–10) *

–

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(tracks 1–4, 7–10) *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(all) *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(all) *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(all) ''May 1, 1951 session: tracks 12-20.'' * Bud Powell – piano (all) *

Curly Russell Curly is a surname, given name, nickname or stage name. It may refer to: First name, nickname or stage name * Crazy Horse (1840–1877), Oglala Sioux war chief nicknamed "Curly" * Curly (scout), nickname of Ashishishe (c. 1856–1923), Crow In ...

– bass (tracks 12, 14, 16–19) *

– drums (tracks 12, 14, 16–19)

Production

Bob Blumenthal Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States * Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surnam ...

–

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

(2001 CD) *

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

– liner notes (LP and 1989 CD) * Doug Hawkins –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* John Hermansader –

cover design Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

Alfred Lion Alfred Lion (born Alfred Löw; April 21, 1908 – February 2, 1987), was an American record executive who co-founded the jazz record label Blue Note in 1939. Lion retired in 1967, having sold the company, after producing recordings by leading music ...

– producer, original session producer * Ron McMaster – digital transfers (1989 CD) *

– disc transfers (1989 CD); disc transfers, digital audio restoration and mastering (2001 CD) *

Francis Wolff Francis Wolff (April 5, 1907 – March 8, 1971) was a record company executive, photographer and record producer. Wolff's skills, as an executive and a photographer, were important contributions to the success of the Blue Note record label. Care ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, cover photo

References

External links

NPR Basic Jazz Record Library entry
with audio samples. * Bud Powell a
jazzdisco.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Bud Powell, The Bud Powell albums 1952 albums Albums produced by Alfred Lion Blue Note Records albums Album series Albums produced by Michael Cuscuna